We’ve heard so much about this phone pre-release. It is part of Samsung’s long term strategy to woo a certain section of customers who are after premium smartphones. Yes most if not all of such customers are already served well by the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note range of devices but the clamour for Samsung devices clad in material other than glossy, perforated or chromium-plated plastic is evident in every review of a high end Samsung Galaxy device you can come across. Enter the Galaxy Alpha.
It is not fully metal though since it has a rubberized plastic back so that you can still remove the back and pop up another battery incase you run out of power midway through something important and you’re nowhere near a wall socket or a handy USB charging port.
A quick brush through the specs as you’ll see below tells you that the phone simply has a premium build and of course premium pricing but the jury is still out there as to whether it is fully premium as we had heard it would be when those Galaxy F rumours were in full gear. Still, such specs are at par (or even better 🙂 ) with what Apple puts in its iPhone and it still manages to sell well. The catch has been in the strict attention to detail (like the chamferred edges every reviewer will point out as far as the iPhone’s design is concerned) and of course the seamless hardware-software integration Apple is really famed for. Has Samsung managed to pull this with the Galaxy Alpha? Let’s wait for the reviews.
The device is expected to cost 599 Euros or US$689 and has the following specs:
- Size & weight: 132.4 x 65.5 x 6.7 mm (it is one of the slimmest Galaxy devices you’ll find today), 115g
- Display: 4.7 inch HD (720p) Super AMOLED
- Processor: Octa Core (Quad 1.8GHz + Quad 1.3GHz)
- Memory: 2 GB RAM/ 32 GB internal storage (not expandable)
- Camera: 12 MP main camera/ 2.1 MP front-facing camera
- OS: Android 4.4.4
- Battery: 1860 mAh
- Others: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac HT80, MIMO(2×2), Bluetooth 4.0 LE, NFC, USB 2.0, LTE Cat.6 (300/50Mbps)
Features found in all of Samsung’s 2014 device lineup like the Ultra-Power Saving Mode, S Health, Finger Print Scanner, Download Booster and Private Mode are also found in the device it comes running the latest version of Samsung’s TouchWiz. So is support for Samsung’s Gear smart watches. There’s no mention of Kids Mode but I expect it to be somewhere in there.
Russian site Hi-Tech@Mail (remember those Galaxy Alpha ads we saw from Russia first?) had an early exclusive and has already published a review of the device so if you happen to know a little bit of that language or you just love Google Translate’s capabilities, you can check out more hands on details and real world (not press) photos of the device.
http://youtu.be/u8OZoyHvX78
